Description

ST 56 SE CHEW MAGNA C.P. CHEW STREET (north side)

3/24 Church of St. Andrew
21.9.60
G.V.
I

Parish church. C12 origin, C14, money left in 1443 for north aisle and in 1541
for tower, C17 alterations, vestry built 1824 by Reverend John Hall, C19
restoration and alterations. Tower in sandstone and limestone ashlar, south
aisle and chapel in roughly squared rubble with stone dressings and ashlar
parapets, south porch in squared rubble with limestone ashlar south wall and
parapet, chancel and north aisle, porch and chapel in coursed sandstone rubble
with limestone dressings; lead roofs with cross finial to chancel. West tower,
nave, north and south aisles, north and south porches, south and north chapel,
north east vestry and chancel. Some Norman work around south doorway, Early
English south arcade and north east respond of south chapel, otherwise
Perpendicular style of different periods. 4-stage tower has west door with
pointed arch, hood mould and block stops, surround of 2 hollow-moulded orders and
central order with slender shafts to sides, large 5-light west window; 2nd and
3rd stages have 2-light window to all sides, lattice-glazed at 2nd stage, with
pierced stone tracery at 3rd stage except for east plain glazing; 4th stage has
2-light window with bell-louvres each side; stair turret to north east with
string courses, lancets and pierced stone tracery parapet; tower has plinth,
string courses, weathered setback buttresses, cornice with fine gargoyles,
pierced stone tracery parapet with crocketed pinnacles at corners, clock at 3rd
stage south. 3-bay south aisle has two 4-light windows to south and one to west
with trefoil-headed lights and hood mould, plain parapet and coping broken forward
over buttresses; central bay has 2-storey south porch with pointed arched door
and surround of 3 hollow-moulded orders, slender jamb shafts, hood mould with C19
mask stops, 2-light window above with cusped trefoil heads, cornice, parapet and
coping, image niche to south with C19 image, weathered diagonal buttresses,
3-sided stair turret in angle with aisle to west, gargoyle at cornice east and
west, blocked first floor east window, scratch dial without gnomon to south.
South chapel has 4-light east window with pointed arch, hood mould with mask stops,
to left a bolection-moulded architrave with scallop-shell keystone and floating
cornice, memorial tablet inscription worn away; 4-light south window with Tudor
arch, hood mould and mask stops, 4-light mullioned window with round-headed lights
of C17 (formerly lighting chapel gallery); weathered diagonal buttress, plinth,
cornice with shield to south and rosette to east, pierced stone tracery parapet
with pinnacles. 4-bay north aisle has three 4-light windows with pointed
segmental heads and hood mould, similar 3-light west window, plinth, weathered
diagonal buttresses, cornice with fine gargoyles including anthropophagus to west,
embattled parapet; 2nd bay from west has 2-storey north porch has depressed
4-centred arched doorway with 2 jamb shafts to each side, hood mould with block
stops, 2-light window above with hood mould with angel stops, 3-sided stair turret
to east with embattled parapet, weathered diagonal buttresses, cornice carried
round stair turret, pierced stone tracery parapet crocketed pinnacles with carved
figure at base of central pinnacle and small gargoyles. North chapel has 2-light
C19 west window with hood mould, pointed arched C19 north door, moulded plinth,
cornice and embattled parapet. Chancel has 2-light south window with pointed
segmental head, cornice with bead moulding under eaves along part of south wall
only, clasping buttress to south east; 3-light C19 east window with angel stops
to hood mould, ogee-headed lights; raised coped verges and kneelers.
Interior: tower has pointed arched door to stair turret, C19 framed ceiling in
9 panels with moulded ribs and carved bosses, high pointed arch to nave with
simple broad 2-wave moulding. Nave has 10-bay C19 roof of arched-brace and
collar, corbels to braces, wall-plate, bosses probably earlier and reset at centre
of arched-braces. South arcade of 4 bays, hexagonal piers with pointed arches,
mask corbels to east; 4-bay north arcade has hexagonal east pier, others have
4 shafts at corners with wave-mould between, pointed arches; wide pointed arch to
chancel. South aisle has piscina in south wall, 5-bay roof of very shallow pitch
with brattished wall-plates, moulded tie-beams, principal rafters, short king-
posts with carved wooden tracery between ties and rafters, C19 reconstruction;
pointed arch to south chapel. South porch has stone benches, pointed segmental
headed door to stair turret and upper door to former chamber, 2-bay roof of shallow
pitch, arched-braces rising from stone mask corbels, trefoil-headed image niche
above fine door with elaborate strap hinges, segmental head, plain jambs and
imposts at string course level, upper segmental head, inner draw-bar. South
chapel has 2-bay roof as in south aisle and bosses on wall-plate. North aisle
(narrower than south) 4-bay roof pitched against nave has round-arched-braces
rising from C19 stone mask corbels, principal rafters, one moulded purlin, coved
wall plate, pointed arch to north chapel with north pier as in north arcade.
North porch interior not accessible, similar door to south. North chapel has
4-bay shallow pitched roof, principal rafters, one purlin and ridge purlin, braces
at corners rising from angel corbels; ogee-arched piscina in south wall, pointed
4-light unglazed east window (former external wall) to vestry (entered from
chancel); pointed arched opening from north chapel to chancel and from vestry to
chancel. Chancel has piscina in south wall, wagon roof, previously ceiled,
moulded ridge purlin with large painted bosses, wall-plate over orders to north
and south chapels with angel corbels, mask corbels to east. Fittings: circular
Norman font in south aisle, fluted concave bowl, convex base; rood screen across
aisles and nave; fine Royal Arms over chancel arch with C17 style balusters to
sides; fine C19 carved wooden pulpit; lectern probably made from mediaeval
bench-ends; staff of constable c.1845 in showcase in north aisle; brass
candelabra in nave. Fine effigies in north chapel on carved tomb-chest to Sir
John and Lady St. Loe c.1450; wooden painted effigy in south aisle recess,
allegedly to Sir John de Hauteville, probably of late C16. Fine monument in
south chapel to Edward Baber, 1578 and his wife 1601, with effigies on tomb-chest,
shallow coffered arch over with 2 cherubs named Labor and Quies. In chancel,
marble tablet to Richard Jones, 1692; large marble tablet to Jones family, early
C17; unidentified Baroque stone monument with Corinthian columns; brass plate on
floor to Mary Clarke 1705 and Elizabeth Cory, 1690. In vestry, large marble
tablet with urn, 1761, inscription illegible. In south aisle, marble tablet with
urn and cherub, to Sarah Abraham, 1801; marble tablet with weeping putti, to
Samuel Collins, 1712/13; marble tablet with broken column, to Richard Tyson,
1820; early C19 marble tablet to Elizabeth Henrietta. In north chapel, marble
monument with pediment, to Hodges Strachey, 1716; marble monument to Henry
Strachey, 1810, by J. Bacon Jnr. of London; early C19 stone Perpendicular tablet
to William Bush, 1827; marble tablet to Anne Mullins, 1848, by Tyley of Bristol;
baroque stone tablet to Sarah Lyde, 1662; marble tablet to Edward Plumley, 1842.
Fragments of mediaeval glass in south window of south chapel. Was formerly a
bridge between the Old School Room (q.v.) and the south chapel to an upper
gallery; gallery removed when Baber monument erected, bridge said to have been
demolished later. (Sources: Pevsner, N. : Buildings of England : North Somerset
and Bristol. 1958).

Listing NGR: ST5771263235

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St Andrew's Church, Chew Magna at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q5117353

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)